


Speaking the Knowledge

by Estirose



Category: Kamen Rider Double
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-06
Updated: 2014-05-22
Packaged: 2017-10-10 10:16:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 3,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/98607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estirose/pseuds/Estirose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Philip speaks the knowledge because he wants to. Shotarou may not have a choice. AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Speaking the Knowledge

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: "Phillip" was how his name was spelled when I started this series of stories. Also, slightly AU.

"Matsuyama. Capital of Ehime prefecture. Current city population: 515,282, not including temporary residents. Famous attractions: Dogo Onsen, Matsuyama Castle. Eight of the eighty-eight temples are there."

He reads the words that he recites, not so much out of the book that he carries, but the words that come out of the recesses of his brain. He doesn't really even need the book that much, but it makes it easier to focus and do his research and pull the information that he needs. Today, his subject of exploration is the city of Matsuyama in Ehime prefecture; he was investigating dangos before that and was pulled into the side research as he always did. He does not feel complete – the information does not feel complete – unless it is spoken. Even if nobody hears it besides himself, or Shoutarou, or whoever is nearby.

So, he shifts from topic to topic like a butterfly, speaking so that the knowledge is spoken out loud, so it is not lost in the library that only he can access. He knows, ideally, that the knowledge wants to be heard; but for some reason, most people have little patience for it, except those who want to exploit the knowledge.

He can feel the knowledge wanting to flood from his brain to Shoutarou's; this, he instinctively knows would be bad. He has studied Shoutarou as if his life depended on it; in fact, being able to meld with his partner for W is critical to his continued existence. Shoutarou would be shocked to know how much Phillip knows about him, from official papers to what he eats. Shoutarou is easy to research because he is in some ways part of Phillip now; he is part of the Library now in ways that Phillip doesn't want to explain to him. Shoutarou is not stupid; he'll eventually figure it out.

But he has to accept the knowledge in his brain just like Phillip does, or it will harm him. Phillip knows this because the knowledge knows this. The knowledge knows that to flood an unwilling soul would be to murder that soul, to destroy it utterly. But it still tries, because the knowledge wants to be one with Shoutarou, too. It wants him to accept it, be a true part of its library, one of its curators and custodians. One of the few researchers it allows. It isn't content with coming through Phillip's mouth, through the scribblings Phillip makes as he writes the knowledge down so that Shoutarou can see it. So that another person can see it. It wants to be one with Shoutarou too.

Which is why Phillip carefully shields his partner from the knowledge. Best to let Shoutarou use him as a walking search engine, let Shoutarou figure it out himself. Best to let only one voice speak the knowledge, one set of hands write it down. Best to let Shoutarou think he's weird because he can't stop speaking. The knowledge cannot stop speaking.

"Matsuyama has three sister cities. Sacramento, California, United States. Freiburg, Germany. Pyeongtaek, South Korea. Sacramento is the capitol of California. Sacramento has a school named Matsuyama Elementary School; Sacramento has sixty-eight elementary schools…."

Phillip is at home with the knowledge, and speaks it willingly. Maybe someday, Shoutarou will too.


	2. Bang Head at Search

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shotarou is getting search results in his head. He doesn't like it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: This storyline is slightly AU from canon; it was written early enough that "Phillip" was the spelling-of-the-moment, and under the assumption that the two of them were connected at all times.

_Maku is a language spoken in South America. There are about 100 native speakers._

Shoutarou groaned as the random fact fluttered about in his head. He was sure he'd never heard of the language before. Nor did it have any connection to what Akiko was shouting at him. What was he turning into, a henpecked husband?

His brain helpfully informed him that there were 580,000 results on the phrase.

"Shut up," he muttered at it, earning him a glare from Akiko. She was ruining his image anyway. Since when did hardboiled detectives have nagging girls as bosses?

"I'm turning into Phillip," he muttered.

"I hope not," she said, before flouncing off. He took the respite to head over to the hidden door to Phillip's domain; perhaps Phillip had picked up the conversation and relayed the number of results to him telepathically. It wasn't as if he didn't do that half the time when relaying results from the Gaia Library.

To his somewhat relief, the notes on the nearest board were on Moscow, and Phillip was muttering about that city.

"Yo, Phillip," Shoutarou called. "Did you just run a search on henpecked husbands?"

"No," Phillip said, cocking his head. "Do you want me to research the topic?" But there was a sparkle in his eyes; Shotarou had to wonder if he was kidding.

"I want to know why I'm suddenly getting search results in my head," Shoutarou told him.

"Perhaps the Library is welcoming you," Phillip said, closing his book.

"I don't want to be welcomed into the Library," Shoutarou said sharply. He wondered if he should bang his hrad against the wall.

Somewhere inside, he knew that there were over a million results on the phrase. He started literally banging his head on the wall, only vaguely aware of Phillip arriving at his side. "What?" He practically barked.

Phillip handed him a glass of water and some aspirin. "It gets easier," he said.

"I want it out of my head," Shotarou snarled.

Phillip cocked his head and then nodded.

There were thirty-four million results on the name Phillip. Taking the aspirin and water from Phillip, he stalked back to his office.


	3. Compromising With The Library

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Philip tries to think of ways to ease Shotarou into the library.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Compromising With The Library  
> by Estirose  
> c 2009&lt;**

Phillip took refuge in the library when he was upset. And for the moment, he was… well, not upset, but perturbed. Enough that his researching was scattered all over the place.

The library was beginning to invade Shotarou's mind, despite his efforts. Despite his pleadings. And Shotarou's reaction had been clear: he didn't want it.

Phillip had two choices: To convince the library to let Shotarou go, or convince Shotarou that he should welcome the library into his mind. He would have to research, figure out which one was the better alternative.

He personally liked to be connected to the library. To have all that information at his fingertips… well, mind. Letting people know things was fun and interesting… knowing things even more.

But Shotarou was not like him. Shotarou was only interested in knowledge when it helped him solve cases. So he didn't appreciate having the library with him as Phillip did. If Phillip could convince him that it would help him solve cases once W was no longer needed… that might be easiest. Certainly, he'd have to filter out information, the library wouldn't be happy… but it might be a good compromise.

Besides, its other choice was losing Shotarou entirely, and the knowledge didn't want to lose people. To make Shotarou a user instead of a custodian… it might be a reasonable compromise. He would go into it later, when Shotarou didn't need him. Commune with the library, convince it. Then convince Shotarou that it was the best thing for him.

That would be difficult, but probably the best course of action. Shotarou could be stubborn, but Phillip could be stubborn too. He'd convince the library. And then he'd convince Shotarou.

And in the meantime, he'd research it and make his plans even better. Starting with a review of the person – the being – that was Hidari Shotarou.


	4. A Life on Whiteboard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shotarou is less than pleased to see Philip 'reviewing' his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _ **Note:** _ _ Sorry for the delay! I haven't been inspired on this story/story collection for a while._

"Philip, what are you doing?" Shotarou asked, as his partner scribbled things. Things that wouldn't have been so scary had they not, say, been half of his life splashed over Philip's whiteboards. Why in the hell he was the subject of Philip's investigations, he didn't know - he would have thought that Philip would have 'investigated' him a year ago, when they became Double, not now.

"Reviewing." Philip wasn't even paying attention to him.

"My life?" Shotarou asked, coming up to stand beside his partner, unable to believe his eyes. "Why?"

"It was necessary," Philip told him, not even paying much attention to him.

"Philip, if this isn't all erased by the time she arrives-" He hated to threaten his partner, but he could do without Philip spilling all of his intimate secrets on his whiteboards. He was sure there was something about his sex life in there somewhere. Like off to the left.

But he knew better than to deal with a pissed-off partner with an erased whiteboard. He'd discovered that far too quickly, the first time he got impatient with Philip's scribblings, and Philip had refused to do any lookups - well, other than Philip's own - for two weeks, as well as barely talking to Shotarou in general.

"Hmm," was all Philip said, completely absorbed in the facts of Shotarou's life.

And then he was writing something about henpecked husbands, and Shotarou was reminded of two days before, when it seemed like he was personally connected to a search engine. Not that he was totally free of the whole thing - his brain was yammering something about some million results for the phrase "sex life" and a bit less for some terms that he was seeing on Philip's boards that he really didn't want to talk about, even to his partner.

"This doesn't have anything to do with the search results in my head, does it?" he asked tiredly. He hoped it didn't; he hoped it hadn't triggered Philip's obsessive side.

"Excellent, Shotarou," Philip said, and Shotarou could have done without his partner smiling. He hoped he'd misheard, or his partner had. "I'm tracing the connection between you and the Gaia Library."

"You... what?" Shotarou asked. "You're doing what? Isn't that because you're my partner or something?" Damn. Well, at least Philip was trying, though he still wished he knew why certain things were on the board. "And what does my sex life have to do with it?"

"I had to review your life to see what was making you open to the Library," Philip said, closing his book to Shotarou's relief. "If necessary, the best route to take to help you integrate with it."

"I... what... Philip, I'm not going to integrate with the damn library!" Shotarou exclaimed. That was Philip's job, not his. He was not going to turn into some weirdo with a fetish for research.

He was not going to turn into the person Philip had been when they'd first met.

"I'm hoping," Philip said, "That you have a choice." Damn once again. His partner was serious. Something was going on and even Philip might not be able to stop it.

A chill ran through him.

"Just... get my life off of your whiteboards," Shotarou said. "We'll figure it out later... we have a new case. A Dopant on the loose."

As he turned, though, the world went white, and he was sure he saw a library behind his eyes as he passed out.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Philip goes to rescue Shotarou from the Library

Philip gave the bookshelves a mental shove, looking for his partner's mental presence in the infinite Library. If he didn't hurry, there would be nothing left of the being that was his partner, Shotarou; instead, the Library would inhabit his body. The Library was so desperate to have a second Guardian that it didn't care that Shotarou had his own life, and he was quite sure that their opponents would be just as happily use his partner's mindless shell as a source of new GaiaMemories.

He had, at least, enough control over the Library and enough of a bond with Shotarou that finding his partner was a relatively quick task. Shotarou lay in the library unconscious, books flying into him. As Philip watched, a row of books seperated from a bookshelf and waited for an opening.

An opening Philip was not going to give. Reaching into their bond, Philip wrenched a block into place, gazing at his partner as Shotarou mumbled something about "Eightman" and the books fluttered around his prone form.

"Shotarou... " he said, giving his partner a mental nudge through their link, as well as giving his Library-form a nudge. Shotarou muttered something and turned over. Nearby, a book titled "Glass" banged on the barrier that Philip had erected, trying to reach Shotarou's mind. Philip wondered absently about how much of Shotarou's mind and personality was left, but there was time to determine that.

"Hot...." Shotarou said, opening his eyes slightly and squinting at Philip. "Fang?"

Philip's concentration briefly slipped at the memory of how he went out of control that first night, but he grasped "Glass" before it could dive into Shotarou. The book struggled in his hand, trying to reach his partner.

"You're in the Library," he said mildly.

"It's burning," Shotarou said, and Philip wondered if he was feeling the Library's anger or whether it was a side effect of what was happening to him. He vaguely recalled that the Library had tried to overwhelm him, too, when he came in, and only who - what he was had protected him. Maybe losing the memories of his family had saved his life.

The Library had been so lonely in ways - so eager - that both of them were lucky that their enemies had not found a way in yet. Not that it would have been easy for them, either, but they could go back to producing GaiaMemories, and they could eventually find a way to bar him from the Library as well.

Maybe it was best that Shotarou was becoming part of it. It did allow few, but those it did allow, it embraced fiercely.

"Shotarou. Imagine closing a book. Do it."

Shotarou twitched, but Philip could feel a barrier settling down underneath his own. As he smiled, a book hit him over the head. He grabbed it with his other hand. "Censorship," he read. But before he could decide what to do with it, he was being pummeled by other books - he could see "Actuarial Science", "Matsuyama", and "Sacramento" joining in the fray.

The Library was serious about its new inhabitant, it seemed, but not as serious as Philip.

"Still hot..." his partner muttered.

"We'll get away from the heat, Shotarou," Philip said. "But you have to open your eyes...."

He saw Shotarou wince, but his partner gradually opened his eyes. "The Gaia Library... why am I here? Wait... you were trying to stop it."

"Yes." He saw no reason to elaborate. Besides, he was still being pummeled by an entire bookshelf.

"Why is it running about in my head?" Shotarou said, glaring at Philip. "I don't want it in my head."

Philip knew Shotarou would fly off the handle if he knew that he was going to be with the Library as long as he was with Philip, maybe longer. "It seems, Shotarou, that the Library doesn't want to give you a choice in the matter. "However, I could teach you how to control the Library so it doesn't intrude on your life."

Shotarou winced again. "Then do it."

"At least not more than it already has." He figured he'd explain the fact that Shotarou might be missing parts of himself once they were back in the physical world. "You have your own gate to the Library. Now that you've closed the book, we'll exit the library."

That might be easier said than done, but at least they could try. He helped his partner up as books swirled around Shotarou - and what was that book on Human Sexuality trying to show him? - and gave him a smile. "Now, all you have to do is open your eyes. Outside. Think of your body, think of opening your eyes to see the roof of the garage....."

"Think of my body...." Shotarou closed his eyes. Philip wasn't sure if that was going to work, but Shotarou was contrary enough that it did. Soon, his partner was gone, and Philip, glaring at the books, faded out as well.

He awoke back in the garage, seeing Shotarou sit up from his inadvertent adventure in the Gaia Library, but didn't get to say anything before Akiko banged the door open. "He's struck again!" she called, her voice higher-decibeled than usual. "The dopant!"

"What dopant?" Shotarou asked, and Philip could see his confusion.


	6. Chapter 6

"What do you mean, what dopant?" Akiko clutched at her slipper, which was unreadable.

"Aki-chan...." Philip seemed to pause, if unsure how to explain what was going on. Shoutarou himself wished he remembered, but at the moment his mind was cooling down from his encounter with the Library.

"The Library did something to me, didn't it?" Shotarou asked, running a hand through his hair in frustration. He hoped that Akiko didn't decide to bop him on the head with her slipper; he already had a massive headache. "I need to lie down."

"I didn't hear anything of this!" Akiko cried. "What happened?"

"The Gaia Library tried to welcome Shoutarou into itself," Philip explained. "It tried to make him a tabula rasa... a blank slate."

"What?!?" Akiko shook her head, hurrying to where they were. "Shoutarou-kun?"

"Don't talk so loud," Shoutarou groused as Akiko and Philip helped him over to the sofa where Philip tended to crash. He fell down onto the sofa, wincing as his back hit the cushion.

"I'll have to go out," Philip decided, and Shoutarou wished that his partner didn't have to go, but damn it, it felt like someone had rung his head with a mallet, not to mention that he was still trying to find out what had been overwritten by the Library.

The Library was still trying to push its content into him, and he groaned. He didn't really want to know everything in the world. He didn't need to become a walking encyclopedia like Philip was, and the Library really needed to back off. Now.

"Philip-kun, is it safe to leave him like this?" Akiko asked, hovering over Shoutarou.

"I taught him basic shielding," Philip said, sounding less certain than usual. 

"If we have to use Fang...." The words slipped out unbidden, but he didn't want to think what would happen if they had to combine with Philip using Fang, which could be problematic at the best of times. "But we don't have a choice." He was in no condition to do anything more than to activate Joker when Philip asked him to.

He could see Akiko looking from one to the other. She knew as well as he did that Double was needed at the moment, even with him in the condition that he was in. It might kill him, but he had to be there. He had to be there for Fuuto.

"Go, Philip." He knew it might kill him, but he had to do his job. He had to be Fuuto's hero.

"Where is the dopant, Aki-chan?" Philip asked, as the two of them headed away from him.

He didn't hear Akiko's answer.


	7. Chapter 7

At least Shoutarou's head didn't hurt when he was in Philip's body. However, he could tell that Philip was not only expending energy fighting the dopant, but also reaching out to keep his mind shielded from the library. 

They really didn't have time to discuss it, though. Philip's body was only good for a certain amount of fighting before he lost the armor, and they had to at least temporarily defeat the dopant before then. If they could get some breathing room, at least Shoutarou might be able to fight next time.

At least he was getting used to fighting in Philip's weaker form, and they were doing quite a beatdown on the dopant. A memory break later, and one dazed human was wandering down the streets.

"That takes care of that," Shoutarou murmured. There was amusement from Philip before he disengaged the driver, which tossed Shoutarou back into his headache.

As he returned to his own sight, he saw Akiko hovering over his body with pills and water. He gratefully took them, hoping that they'd at least partly quell the headache. Philip would be heading back soon, he knew, and he hoped that the other would help him figure out what he'd lost, and how to proceed from there.

He watched Akiko leave to manage the office, and then Philip returned. Shoutarou wished he could do something instead of just lying down on Philip's couch and hoping the Libary didn't try getting into his head any more than it had.

At least Philip didn't have to ask how Shoutarou felt; their link was strong enough, at least on Philip's end, that he didn't have to. He just glanced at Shoutarou, a promise in his expression.

Eventually the pounding stopped, at least enough for Shoutarou to get up. Philip glanced over at him. "Is there any way to stop this?" Shoutarou asked, all too aware of the fact that the Library was still battering at his mind.

"I've been researching that. I think the best way is to have you do lookups."

Shoutarou groaned. "Philip, I don't want to look things up!"

"If it accepts you as a user, it won't be trying to take you over as part of it." Philip cocked his head meaningfully.

That sounded a little bit more useful than having it try to make him into an expansion, but he wasn't thrilled about turning into Philip. "Okay. What do I have to do?"

"Close your eyes and imagine yourself in it." Philip's voice was surprisingly soothing instead of irritating, and Shoutarou followed his instructions.

"Now, open them." Philip's voice sounded more echo-like, and Shoutarou opened his eyes. "I'll show you how to do a search."

So Philip did, his arms flung out, and the library shifting around until it came up with a book, which he started to read.

"Your turn," he said, and Shoutarou pulled a few random words out in order. His lookup was nowhere as smooth as Philip's, because he didn't have anything particular to give the Library; it was just tossing terms at it until it finally gave him something.

He wondered if it would always be like this, having to every so often come in and toss keywords at the library in order to make it happy.

And he was just as sure that he didn't want to know the answer.


	8. Chapter 8

A week later, everything was back to normal, or as normal as everything got around the Detective Agency. Shoutarou wasn't fond of looking for lost cats and the occasional missing person, but if that was what paid the rent, that was what he would do.

He still relied on Philip to do the lookups, though, because Philip could do it far faster and better than he. Sometimes he could feel the Library still pressing into his mind, but at least thinking search queries seemed to help keep him from an impending headache. Oddly enough, he didn't have to wear a watch; his connection to the Library kept him appraised of the current date, time, and weather conditions of Fuuto, even if he didn't always want them.

It still wasn't something he would have asked for, but it was something he'd have to live with. 

Shoutarou dreaded ever having to go into the Library again, which Philip had told him he might have to do every so often. Still, at least his initial lookup had convinced it that Shoutarou wasn't going to close it out of his mind, permanently.

It could have been worse - he was still finding bits of things he'd lost when the library tried to take him over. Little bits and pieces of memory and knowledge that he might never get back. But there was peace between him and the Library for the moment, and the being known as Hidari Shoutarou would continue on just as he was.


End file.
